US & World News, Thursday 2/21

US& World Summary: McCain Denies Inappropriate Relationship With Lobbyist (Toledo, OH) -- John McCain denies doing anything wrong and vows to continue focusing his Presidential campaign on "big issues." During a news conference this morning in Ohio, the Arizona Republican Senator was pressed about a "New York Times" article. That article suggested McCain had an inappropriate relationship with a female lobbyist who had business before the Senate committee that he chaired. McCain described the woman as a friend and noted that he has numerous friends in Washington. --- Navy Shoots Down Disabled Satellite (St. Louis, MO) -- The U.S. military has successfully destroyed a malfunctioning satellite. Marine General James Cartwright says the Pentagon is fairly certain a missile fired yesterday blew up the satellites hydrazine fuel tank. He said footage of the explosion shows a fireball, which likely indicates it was destroyed and the fuel burned. Cartwright says it could take another 24 to 48 hours to know for sure that the tank was destroyed. The Navy says it expects most of the debris from the satellite to re-enter the atmosphere over the next two-days. --- Woman Jailed For Threatening Hillary Clinton (Albany, NY) -- A California woman is in a New York jail for allegedly threatening to kill Senator Hillary Clinton. Federal agents arrested Diane Ferretti late last week after a city library user reported seeing threatening writings on the computer screen that was being used by the San Diego woman. According to the Albany "Times Union," when confronted by Secret Service investigators, Ferretti refused to recant her threats. Secret Service agents had reportedly been watching Ferretti since November when it was learned that she had made other threats against politicians, including President Bush. --- NIU Campus To Observe Moment Of Silence (DeKalb, IL) -- There will be a moment of silence today on the campus of Northern Illinois University, one week after the shooting deaths of five students. The five minutes of silence will begin at exactly 3:06 p.m. as bells on campus and throughout the community toll in remembrance. About 15-hundred people attended a ceremony last night honoring one of last weeks victims. Meanwhile, FBI profilers are examining information from last Thursdays shooting in an effort to determine the gunmans motive. Steven Kazmierczak 1/81/8 kaz-MER-zick 3/83/8 opened fire in a lecture hall, killing six people including himself. --- Miami Police To Test Unmanned Aircraft A Florida police department has signed up to test a new unmanned aircraft for law enforcement purposes. Thats according to the "Arizona Republic," which says the Miami/Dade County Police Department has signed a deal with Phoenix-based Honeywell to test the Micro Air Vehicle. The deal has been green-lighted by the Federal Aviation Administration, which approved the test after a successful demonstration for FAA officials in New Mexico. A Honeywell spokesman says the aircrafts design allows for easy maneuverability in urban airspace. --- Google, Cleveland Clinic To Store Medical Histories You may soon be able to access your medical history online. Thats according to "BusinessWeek," which reports that Google is teaming up with the Cleveland Clinic to offer patients the opportunity to store their health records online. Under the plan, patients will be able to choose what information gets shared and what remains confidential. Google is following the lead of Microsoft, who launched a similar service called HealthVault last October. --- "Dilbert" Creator Uses Real-Life Firing (Des Moines, IA) -- An Iowa man is being immortalized by the creator of the "Dilbert" comic strip after posting a "Dilbert" cartoon on an office bulletin board. Scott Adams is basing his latest comic strip plot on the real-life incident that resulted in 50-year-old Dave Steward from Fort Madison, Iowa being fired. Steward was terminated by a Casino for posting a comic that compared bosses to a bunch of, quote, "drunken lemurs." (Copyright 2008 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-02-21-08 0841CST